Y2, Week 13: Be a Scientist

Jun29

Last week, I talked about making several adjustments to my regimen. I’m thrilled to say that it appears I’m having a good bit of success. This is why it’s important to evaluate and change what you’re doing,  especially if you have a lot of weight to lose. What worked at 334 pounds wasn’t working so well at 271, and I expect that the changes I’m making today may not be as effective — or effective, at all — at 210. I had to get out of what has become safe and comfortable for me in order to see results.

My intention was to give the Atkins Fat Fast a shot, because it would be an indicator to me that I’m on the right track regarding insulin resistance. In my mind, I was fidgeting about when to start, because really, it’s not a picnic. But as luck would have it, I woke up with an upset stomach on Tuesday, and figured what the heck, I might as well try it since I’m limiting foods, anyway. WIN.

I weighed in on Monday morning at 282, 11 pounds above my low weight of 271. I knew part of that was water weight from the weekend. Tuesday morning started the fat fast. As of this morning, I am down 9.5 pounds since Monday; 7 of that during the fat fast of a whole three days. Realistically, I know probably more than half of that weight is water weight; but if even a pound or two of it is real weight lost, it’s a success.

The skeptical among you might be thinking that anyone should lose weight on a 1000 calorie a day regimen; and that it’s calories in, calories out that matters. I would agree with you — partially. The reason why I don’t wholly buy into the calories are all that count methodology is because my normal daily caloric intake is between 1200 and 1300. A deficit of 200-300 calories a day, over a three day period, should not have resulted in even one pound of loss. I’ll even add that I did not exercise on those days when I normally do, so if you calculate an offset for exercise (which I don’t) on my normal eating days, I was probably eating roughly 1000 calories before the fat fast.

The difference is the high proportion of fat with a great reduction in both carbs and protein. (This is why the fat fast is only recommended for a 3-5 day course; it lacks good nutrition.) The absence of carbs and protein forces an insulin-resistant body to go to stored fat for energy more so than it does in the presence of carbs and protein. I forget the exact proportions, but I believe that water weight is linked to body fat, as it is to glycogen, which is the body’s glucose stores. As you burn glycogen/release fat, you also release water, so the two go together.

I also have changed up my supplement regimen.  Years ago, I took supplements recommended by Atkins for those who are metabolically resistant; chromium, CO-Q10, l-carnitine, to name a few. I stopped taking them for financial reasons, and that may have been part of why I ended up putting weight back on. I am now taking them again, and while I believe it’ll take a few weeks to a month to have a full effect, I think they are part of the reason why the fat fast was so effective.

I think the combo of the change in supplements, in addition to the Fat Fast, have helped me get down to 1.5 pounds away from my low. Having done this experiment, I’m now looking to adjustments in my overall program, including increasing the amount of fat I include in my regular eating. I’d gotten away from high fats because of calories, and that was perhaps a mistake for me. I’m going to make a point to include more (healthy) fats in my diet, and I’m also going to do at least a modified fat fast 1-2 times a month.

I’ll also add that I have further reduced the prescriptions I take. I phased out an HRT and an anti-depressant several months ago (late March), and have now reduced arthritis meds in half. So far, my body has only had minor objections. As I continue to lose weight, I hope to alleviate daily use of arthritis medications.

I did not put on goal pants, since I’m not back down to the goal which moved me to those pants. I’m hoping to have dipped down to a new low in the weeks to come.

 

Y2, Week 12: Adjustments

Jun22

I’ve dropped about four pounds since my last post. While I’m not down to my low, yet, I see this as really good news.  Until I’m at my low, though, I see no point in trying on goal jeans.

When you get what you feel is a setback, the best thing to do is to reevaluate instead of throwing in the towel. That’s what I’ve been doing.  I got a copy of my test results, today; thyroid numbers look good. My fasting glucose number, however, is out of lab range at 111; normal is 65-99, by this lab.

Typically, my fasting glucose number has been above 100 over recent tests. I got to digging into this earlier this week, and from the sources I’ve read, 100-125 is an indicator of insulin resistance.  It’s difficult to lose weight if you’re insulin resistant, and Dr. Atkins wrote that the morbidly obese may well be insulin resistant.

This is a gross oversimplification, but basically, someone who is insulin resistant has cells that don’t take in enough insulin to process food properly. As a result, the body calls the pancreas for more insulin, and the cells don’t metabolize the food you do eat, regardless of calories. Anything left in your system as glucose gets stored as fat. Period. Youch.

The conundrum: insulin resistance improves as you lose weight, but if you’re insulin resistant, it can be nearly impossible to lose. It’s the mobius of dieting.

So, I’m tinkering and reevaluating, because it’s time. It’s been 2 1/2 months since I’ve seen a loss. It’s probably past time, in fact. That was a downside of using clothes as an indicator of goal; if I’d been on the scale, I probably would have been on this sooner. Alas, all I can do is move forward, and that includes:

  • Incorporation of certain supplements into my daily program, including ones that may assist in insulin uptake to cells, in hopes that it’ll help me metabolize food better. This should result in more energy and get me back on the path to weight loss.
  • I’m going to experiment with the Fat Fast that was printed in DANDR. The only food that doesn’t draw an insulin response is fat, so perhaps this will shake things up a bit.
  • I’m working on phasing out prescription medications that may be complicating weight loss. If they were life-and-death medications, I wouldn’t do this and won’t suggest it to anyone else, but they’re not.
  • Until I start seeing the numbers go down below my current low of 271, I’ll be watching the scales. Once I know things are on a downward course, again, I will likely go back to using clothing as an indicator of loss, although I don’t freak out about the scale like I have in the past.

I believe that when you’re on a program to lose weight/become fit/accomplish whatever goals you’re after, you have to be a scientist on your own behalf. You have to be willing to try new things and judge the results objectively, and even if you’re impatient, you have to give the trials enough time to work.

That’s tough, because I know so much emotion is tied up in our appraisals of ourselves and our worth.  But realistically, I’m still a morbidly obese woman, and saying “screw this, I want a Sonic blast!” solves nothing.  I’ll record the changes as they happen.

Y2, Week 11.5: Doctor’s Visit, Head Games

Jun19

I may have mentioned in a previous blog that my longtime doctor died a couple months ago.  This was while he was working at trying to balance out my thyroid meds. This left me with a decision to make: it’s tough going to a new doctor when you have extreme weight issues, because there’s still that ever-present mindset that you’re just not trying hard enough.

I went to a new doctor today.  Thyroid tests have been taken, and we’ll see if there are adjustments needed when the results are in, probably in a couple of days. On the good side of things, he seemed receptive and did the right things.  Plus, my blood pressure, which I have been monitoring since the last visit, has gone down, even though I tend to have white coat hypertension. (See a doc or nurse, and BP goes sailing upward!)

The bad side is that I weighed in this morning at 280.5, which is 9.5 pounds up from my low.  This frustrated me, for more than the obvious reasons; oddly, I have felt like I was losing, not gaining, although I do feel somewhat bloated. I had recently gone down a bra cup size, and here the scale is, reporting that I’m up, not down. WTF, indeed?

And I admit — when I see that number go up despite having stuck to my guns, it makes me want to say “screw it” and enjoy the foods I really like, etc.

You’ll be happy to know that I didn’t do that. Because, really, there has been good news; it’s just that my mind is so focused on weight that I immediately wanted to dismiss all other pluses as secondary, as if the weight gain were a verdict saying “try harder, loser”.   The good things include good progress at lowering my blood pressure without aid of prescription drugs, being otherwise pronounced healthy and “boring”. (I’ll take that kind of boring any old time, thanks.)

Plus, I got a new knee brace this week. It’s another custom brace like my last one; it’s breaking in nicely, and I’ll soon be strolling around the neighborhood with it. I did a lot of walking on Saturday, and had minimal knee pain. Friends, this is what I was hoping for — the alleviation of pain so I can continue to lose by exercising, and by just plain moving.

Alas, I’m going to make a temporary change: and that is, I will be weighing daily for a while, in hopes of seeing enough of a loss on the scale that I’ll be back at my 271 pound low.  At this point, I want to document any trends, and it will perhaps give my doctor more information for finding the keys to solving my hormonal imbalances.

As several friends have pointed out, the solution when you’re not seeing success is never to intentionally fail by giving up.

Y2, Week 10: Goal Pants, PUI

Jun8

1. The goal pants are still snug. Not surprising, really. I also tried on the goal shirt, and I can tell where I’ve lost my weight, recently: in the chest, and maybe a little bit in the arms. It’s fitting well through the torso but upper arms are still tight. Not as tight as before, though.

Stuff just shifts while you’re losing weight; it’s never consistent over the whole body. I’ve lost a band size and a cup size when it comes to bras: I started at a 42DD and am now at a 40D. The drop in cup size happened within the last 6 weeks or so, when I realized that the girls were rolling around in my bra cups like marbles in a couple of cans. Well, okay, not quite *that* drastic, but drastic enough. So, I know I’m losing weight: it’s just not from the waist down at the moment.

2. PUI: Posting Under the Influence. This is a pretty sure sign that I’m effectively low carbing… there’s something about low carb that makes you a cheap drunk. I’ve had 1.5 drinks of Baja Bob’s and a shot of tequila. I’m currently wastin’ away in Margaritaville, but I’m not PUI enough to have lost the salt shaker. 🙂  If you do low carb/low calorie and don’t know what Baja Bob’s is, you don’t know what you’re missing.

Because of this, I probably won’t make this a very long entry.

Other stuff: I’ve gotten back into walking around the block this week. My knees have done quite well since taking orthovisc injections, and to further the good news, I have a new brace on order, and it’ll likely be in next week. My goal between these two things is to be more mobile so I can walk my neighborhood more, be more active overall, and hopefully lose enough weight (I figure 30-4o more pounds) so I don’t need the brace at all. I barely need it now, except that sometimes my right knee shifts and becomes quite painful. So, I’m going to give this a try.

I started back to strength training this week, too. Just some light work on machines for now. I think it’s a step in a really good direction.

Until next week — Cheers!

Y2, Week 9: Goal Pants, Chin Up

Jun1

I admit it: I’ve been struggling. It’s mental crap, again; stuff I just really need to figure out, deal with, and get out of my system.  I’m a deal with it and go on type of person, so it just really frustrates the heck out of me when the same issues keep raising their heads time and time again. Obviously, I haven’t found the key, yet, to handling them.

This time, it’s back to feeling sorry for myself because I don’t see progress; or rather, I think my mind is telling me there’s no progress because it’s not being noticed. Believe me, I know exactly how childish and self-centered this is, and that I shouldn’t be losing weight for attention. But that doesn’t mean I don’t feel these things on some level, and they undermine me, so I have to deal with them.

The sabotage has been subtle. It’s been letting the amount I eat and drink drift up on weekends. Not being diligent with exercise and making excuses. Not making sure there’s enough variety in my daily regimen, so I end up getting bored — and tempted. These are all normal ebb-and-flow parts of any health regimen, but my response cannot be to give up, because that makes no sense: if I’m not putting in a full effort, I can’t expect results, and no amount of excuses will change that. Pouting because someone else is getting attention for weight loss that’s a fraction of mine is just silly.

The result of this kind of thinking is a petulance that demands I just forget the whole thing, that I feel sorry for myself because over a year of effort hasn’t meant squat. That I just stop making the effort.

Which is, of course, the dumbest thing in the world that I could possibly do. If you’re digging a hole and it doesn’t seem like you’re making progress, the solution is never to stop digging. Regardless of what my perception is right this moment, regardless of whether or not I think I’m making progress, stopping the effort and giving up isn’t going to produce the desired results; in fact, I’d likely gain the weight I’ve lost back.

It is entirely about perception. We all have great days, and we all have fat days. I need to recognize the fat days and just move on; the great days will come, and they will be more often the more effort I make, because I have made progress. A lot of it. Just because it’s been gradual enough for people to not notice doesn’t negate it.  In fact, despite my dumb brain telling me otherwise, it’s what I want, and what’s best for me mentally. Losing a whole bunch of weight in a relatively short amount of time did bad things to my brain years ago; I both thrived on the attention and despised it.

I have to remember to be diligent. Instead of just thinking “screw it, I’m done with this!”, I have to reevaluate where I’m at and what I need to do to help myself.  For right now, that means a few things:

Being more attentive on the weekends. I let myself go from moderate carbs/calories on weekends to allowing treats that I shouldn’t be eating, or eating/drinking until I’m beyond full, which will only stretch my stomach back out. I need to quit blowing Monday and Tuesday because I’ve over-indulged on Saturday and Sunday.

Adding variety back to my diet. It’s very easy for me to drift to a norm of low carb eating: meat, eggs, not much else. I’m convinced that what’s made a difference for me this time around is making sure I have a lot of variety in my eating, including lots of fruits and veggies. When I get lazy in my eating, I get away from those things.

Changing up my exercise routine. I dearly need some change, if for no other reason than my mental health. I’m burned out on water workouts at the moment.  I’m going to change focus for a bit and try to add walking into my regimen — slowly. I’m also going to start adding strength training into it as well, and perhaps alternate with water workouts so I don’t feel like I’m just spinning my wheels.

I’m also going to quit avoiding trying on my goal pants, which I’ve done the last couple of weeks. I need to remember what they feel and look like, because that mental marker is important. I tried my pants on first thing this morning, and truly, I don’t think I’ve gone forwards or backwards since the last time, but I need to kick the idea of “no progress” to the curb, because I know darned well that it’s very easy for me to go backwards and gain weight. Not losing isn’t ideal, but it’s a hell of a lot better than not gaining, and that’s a victory, too.

Y2, Week 7: Goal Pants and Creaky Knees

May20

Goal pants: I didn’t try them on this week. My head wasn’t in the best of places on Friday after getting on the scale and seeing a four pound gain when I haven’t been on the scale since March, a good 6 weeks ago. I had to wrap my head around that whole “you GAINED?!” thing and put it in perspective.

Now, those of you that have followed the blog know that I don’t weigh unless a reach a certain goal — or I’m heading to the doc. In this case, it was the doc.  While my orthopedist doesn’t weigh me, I wanted to talk to the doc about getting a new knee brace, since the one I have doesn’t fit anymore. I figured that having a number reference would be a good thing, but in the long run, it was a mistake to weigh.

For one thing, the person I saw at the doc’s office didn’t care about the beginning and end numbers; she just referred me to the brace fitter and said if they can’t make my current one work, the office would write a new prescription for one. And more importantly, seeing a gain on the scale didn’t do me any good, no matter how much I told myself that the scale doesn’t matter.

My clothes are fitting better overall, so I’m going to just tuck the gain in the back of my brain and use it as a reminder that I need to check myself on occasion. I have been letting weekends get away from me when it comes to raising my carbs and calories, and I needed to clean it up. This weekend, I’ve been doing much better. So perhaps that’s the kick in the seat that I needed.  I’m a couple months out from my next fitness challenge, so I have time to correct this.

Now, about my creaky knees: the difficulties I had in Vegas served to push me to a decision I’d been putting off.  For the past several years, I’ve been takinginjections in my knees.  I can get them every 6 months, but weight loss has helped my knees a lot, so this time, it’s been a year. I started the series on Friday, and it’ll finish off in a couple of weeks.

The other thing I did was decide to see if I can have my brace redone.  The  brace I have was custom fitted for my leg, and once again, since losing 63 pounds, the brace no longer fits. It slides down my leg when I wear it, and because I’ve dropped from size 26 pants to size 22, the pants won’t fit over the top of the brace. (This brace has a titanium metal bar that forms the outside of it, and it’s formed to my leg — as it was.)  I figure that if the brace can be reordered in a smaller configuration, that will last me another 30-40 pounds.  At that point, I don’t think I’ll need it. I’ve only put it on a couple of times since last November, and even then, it didn’t fit very well.

The purpose of doing these two items is to increase my mobility. The more weight I lose, the better my mobility gets. The better my mobility is, the more I can do. And I need that. I was originally seeing both items as somehow “giving in”, but that’s just backward thinking. If they help me progress so I can continue toward health and fitness, then I need to do it.

Y2, Week 6: Goal Pants, Miscellany

May11

After several weeks of not trying them on, the goal pants got a try-on this morning. It’s been long enough that I don’t really recall how they felt before, but honestly? They felt good this morning. Not a fit, yet, because they’re causing a muffin top, and I want at least some of that gone. Realistically, I have a lot of mushy fat and loose skin; I look like I have a muffin top when I’m naked. 😀  So, I just want some of it to go away, and I’ll be a happy camper with these pants.

As for the eternal shirt — I’m beginning to think of the shirt a lot like I thought of the black pants that took FOREVER to get them to fit. The problem in the shirt is the upper sleeves. I have big upper arms; I always have.  My upper arms haven’t lost weight in a while. It’s frustrating for me to put on that shirt and not feel like there’s a difference because of how the sleeves fit, so there’s part of me that wants to just hang that one up and move on.  To what, I don’t know.

I am in a better mental place than I was, last week. I’m back to believing weight loss is possible, again. My knees feel better; inflammation is down and water weight is pretty much gone. I’m pretty sure I gained a couple of real pounds in Las Vegas, and they feel like they’re gone, which is really good, considering how slow I lose and how fast I gain.

I’ve bought more clothes, lately, than I have intended to buy; a couple of maxi dresses and a top that I loved the minute I saw it. I did tell myself that I wouldn’t buy clothes unless I found something I just really loved, and I do really love these. I need to wear them. If there’s a justification, it’s that I want to feel good about myself as I lose weight instead of feeling punished by only wearing old clothes or stuff that doesn’t fit. There’s something about a maxi dress that makes me feel glamorous.

And finally… over the weeks to come, it’s time to get my thyroid numbers retested. This is a problem. I didn’t write about it here, but my doc, who I’ve had for a couple of decades, died a few weeks back of an aortic aneurysm. We were working on getting my thyroid levels balanced; now I’m not sure who to go to, because honestly, finding a doc that’s willing to play with the numbers and see how I feel — well, that’s a challenge. I’m sad because my doctor died, but I’m selfish, too; I’m more put out that I might have to go back to square one and start over with another doc. I guess I’m ahead of the game because I have existing treatment with both synthroid and cytomel.  Perhaps a new doc will see that the old doc thought it was worth a try.

I’m also returning to my orthopedic surgeon next week, for the first time in a year. I had been taking orthovisc injections in both knees, every six months, but weight loss helped enough that I didn’t feel like I needed it for a good six months past the renewal time. Well, now, I feel like I could use them, and if they make things easier for me as I continue to lose weight, great.

Finally, I’m including an inspirational video. This really hit me hard. While I’m not exactly in the same place as the man in this video, in that I’m not a combat vet and my knees were never bad enough to require the assistance he needed, we have enough in common that the video really stirs me.  Like him, things are improving for me as I work out and lose weight, and I really hope to be as fit as he is in a couple of years.  Thanks to my friend Veronica for posting it.

 

Y2, Week 5: Struggling with Mental Issues

May4

Stop looking for Week 4; I was in Vegas and didn’t post. 😉

So… I’m struggling with a lot of things at the moment, but first, a recap on the Vegas trip.  I was thrilled on the way there, because not only did I fit the seat, but I didn’t need a seat belt extender. That was a real boost for me.  I also did a lot of walking while in Vegas, and the knees/legs lasted longer than I thought they would. But by the end of the week, they were still shot, and it’s been a few days to recover. I guess if there’s good news, there, it’s that any soreness I had wasn’t because of muscles, and recovery has been quicker than it has been in the past.

I had a fantastic time in Vegas with some truly wonderful people. That’s not an issue at all.  But I did get some kicks in the chops when pictures started getting posted and other peoples’ weight losses were mentioned, but mine wasn’t. Yes, I know this is an ego thing; and I am caught between wanting the recognition of having lost 63 pounds, and not wanting it noticed because it screwed with my head when I had to constantly recount my story and my current weight when I lost 140 pounds years ago. I don’t want to be identified by weight loss anymore than I want to be identified by my weight. But. I guess I am somewhat saddened that 63 pounds of me is gone and it’s not immediately noticeable.

I’ve been mentally flogging myself over feeling bad about it. And complicating everything else, I have a new awareness of my body that I haven’t had in quite some time; I’m not sure if this is a consequence of the mental mule kick or just bad timing. How to explain this?  Well, I feel fat. Yeah, I know, I am fat; I’m stating a fact, not insulting myself.  But for the first time, I feel my body, and I can feel where the fat is exactly, how much there is, how thick it is in places, how far I have to go before it’s gone. That awareness might be a very good thing, but right now, it’s serving as a reminder to me that I need to suck it up and keep up the hard work.

With all this crap floating around in my mind, plus the complications that hit because of overeating and walking too much for cranky knees, I came very close to not getting back on the wagon. My mind was literally screaming why bother? to me.  And it’s been tough to not give in to that voice. I’m disappointed in myself, because I really did want to be further along in the journey by now, and while I know logically why I am where I am, I’m having a really hard time with self-acceptance at the moment. I see pics of myself and cringe. I don’t see any progress that I’ve made. I’m still the largest one in the room.

Now, I’m admitting to this and writing it out because even though my brain keeps demanding that I just give it up because it’s not doing any good, I know on a lot of levels that I have made progress, and it becomes exponential at this point. The progress I make in both weight loss and strength training will have an increased effect from this point onward; the larger percentage of my overall body weight that I lose, the more noticeable it will become. A 63 pound loss, if you start out at 234 pounds, is much more noticeable than a 63 pound loss when you start at 334 pounds; I know that. And now that I’m smaller, any loss I have will be a larger proportion of my overall weight.

Plus, as I continue to lose, any strength I gain will have a bigger effect. The more weight I lose, the happier my knees are, and the better job my muscles can do keeping things aligned and working properly. In short, I would be an idiot to give up now, because I’m on the brink of this mattering so much more than it has.

As an addendum… I didn’t put on my goal pants this morning. I’m going to give myself a solid week of being on plan before doing that again; I recognize that I’m not in the strongest place, mentally, so I’m not going to compound it by trying on goal pants. I know I’m still carrying some water weight, as well as real gained weight, from a week of vacation.

Y2, Week 3: Nearing a Goal

Apr20

Goal pants: I didn’t try them on. I know this sounds like a lame excuse, but I was sweaty at the time, and they wouldn’t go up even to my hips. Considering I had them on, zipped, and took pics last week, I’m pretty sure this is a combo of weather, water weight, damp skin, and me not bothering to check back later, since it’s only week 2 on these pants.  Not even a full two weeks, really, and there’s usually not much difference this early on. Next week, I won’t be home to try them on, so by the week after that, I should be seeing a noticeable difference.

Next week, I’ll be in Las Vegas; that’s the goal I mentioned above in the title.  One of the reasons I’ve been working on exercise and diet is so I can more fully enjoy experiences like this. Walking easier, getting around better, and who knows? Maybe fitting in that skinny-butt Southwest Airline seat without fear of being charged double. 😉 So, I’m really looking forward to feeling better in that environment, along with being with friends.

Obesity brings with it a certain amount of paranoia and fears that people who don’t occupy as much space probably don’t ever think about. Being in crowds, wondering if I could move through a crowded room in a hurry without it becoming a problem, feeling as if I’m the largest person nearby — these are feelings that are pretty familiar, but I don’t worry about them much in my dinky burg of 4,000 people.  But in Vegas? In the airport? In restaurants? Yes, I definitely feel those things, and I wonder how much those feelings will have diminished. I’ll report back next week, or perhaps after I return.

Marching forward!

Y2, Week 2: Next Goal Clothes, Exercise

Apr13

Somehow or other, I lost a week when I was labeling posts, so that’s why you aren’t seeing a Week 1 or a Week 52 from last year; they were pretty much the same week. 🙂

I selected new goal pants on Wednesday. Since it was just Wednesday when I tried them on to take pics, I didn’t bother with trying them on this morning. This time, I’m going with a pair of jeans that are size 22 petite.  A friend of mine says that petite sizes run a full size smaller than regular sizes; I’m going to assume she’s right, since that’s how these seem to fit. They are slightly smaller than the size 22 black jeans that I just called as a fit recently.  They are also at the smallest range for 22, so once I’m in them, the next size for goal pants is size 20.

I have kept the same shirt for a goal shirt; it fits everywhere but the upper sleeves. I have big upper arms (which I detest, but what are you going to do?), so when they aren’t so noticeably tight, I’ll call the shirt a fit. Off hand, I don’t recall what size the shirt is marked.

I’m still just amazed that I’m this close to a size 20.  I know that some clothes come in 16W, but for the most part, 18W is the smallest plus size.  I will be absolutely thrilled when I am out of the plus size department.

I’ve been going through more “archived” clothes from the last time I lost a great deal of weight.  Yesterday, I went through a bunch of dress clothes, and hung up the ones I wanted to keep. That’s the next major group of clothes that I’ll be fitting back into, and the majority of them are around size 18. After that, I’ll actually have to buy new clothes. I’m predicting/guessing/hoping that I’ll be in them in about another year. And honestly, a year doesn’t really sound like that far away.

Exercise:

I’m back in the swing on exercise. I’ve also been supplementing exercise a bit with taking brief walks around the neighborhood. Unfortunately, on Monday, I pushed it too hard and my knees told me in various ways to stop that crap, so I have had to back off on it.  I intend to restart, though, and do it more smartly. Since I’m walking for endurance and not exercise, I need to pay closer attention to the signs my knees are giving me. Also, my hip wants to fuss on occasion. The more I lose weight, though, the happier my joints will be.